Newspaper ejecting machine



April 2, 1968 J. 1.. POWELL, JR., ET-AL 3,375,635 I NEWSPAPER EJECTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 8, 1965 Mar/w? Z Wayo INVENTORS ATTOR/VEVJ April 2, 1968 J. POWELL, JR. ETAL 3,375,635

NEWSPAPER EJECTING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mar/00 L Mayo INVENTORJ 'm B W ATTQ/M EYJ April 2, 1968 J. POWELL, JR., ETAL 3,375,635

NEWSPAPER EJECTING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (fa/1v? Z. Pam e, d7. Mar/00 Z. Mag/0 INVENTORJ BYJMMK United States Patent 3,375,635 NEWSPAPER EJECTING MACHINE John L. Powell, Jr., 2823 Walnut St., and Marion L. Mayo, Oak Hill Road, both of Texarkana, Tex. 75501 Filed June 8, 1965, Ser. No. 462,212 12 Claims. (Cl. 53-119) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus is provided for automatically delivering newspapers to the homes of subscribers. A stack of newspapers is loaded into a portable hopper, and the hopper installed on a motor vehicle. The hopper has a slot in one end, and a device for moving the newspapers toward the slot. A grappler moves the papers through the slot one-by-one, and the newspaper upon passing through the slot is wrapped upon a. roller. A yoke then removes the paper from the roller, and into the barrel of an air gun. The gun is actuated to eject the newspaper into the yard of the subscriber.

This invention relates to a machine for automatically wrapping and throwing articles such as newspapers. More particularly, it relates to a machine which will automatically wrap and tie newspapers, magazines, mail, or similar objects, and thence eject them at the homes of the subscriber.

It will be readily apparent that many millions of dollars are spent each year in paying deliverers of newspapers and similar items. It is also understood that in most cases this delivery is slow and relatively inefficient in comparison with the modern methods of the present age. While others may have sought to build a machine which would replace for the most part these inefiiciencies of the past, such a machine has never been successfully devised or operated.

Accordingly this invention seeks to provide a modern machine which will make delivery of newspapers and similar articles a speedy, economical, and efficient process. Further, this invention seeks to provide a machine which will wrap newspapers or similar articles and tie them securely. Furthermore, this invention provides for such objectives to be accomplished by means of a portable apparatus.

In accordance with the above and other objectives of this invention, one preferred embodiment of this invention is herein illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a machine constructed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention, mounted on the bed of a vehicle.

FIGURE 2 is a rear view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the front portion of the apparatus shown in the embodiment of FIGURE 1, at one stage of the process described herein.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, at a later stage of the process described herein.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating one portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the rear portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly now to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated a vehicle such as truck 1 including a bed having thereon apparatus 2 constructed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

Apparatus 2 includes a hopper 3 which is desirably constructed of a size such that newspapers 4 or the like are adapted to fit upright therein. Hopper 3 is comprised of side walls 19, end walls 6 and 6', bottom 18, and desirably includes a top (not shown) in order to protect the "ice newspapers from the elements. The hopper is desirably portable so that it can be taken into the press room and loaded there, and thence returned to a vehicle on which it is mounted as is shown, for example, in FIGURE 1. Although the accompanying drawings illustrate the hopper on the bed of a pick-up truck, it is of course recognized that other types of vehiclese may work equally well. And it may be desirable to elevate the hopper from the bed of the truck so that the newspapers will have a better trajectory upon ejection from the apparatus. Means are included to automatically move the newspapers to one end of the hopper where they are wrapped and ejected. Such means may take the form of pneumatic screwdriver 45 driven by a motor 46, as illustrated in FIGURE 6.

At one end of the hopper are included means for removing the newspapers, one at a time, therefrom. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, such means have been found to advantageously embody elongated slots 7 in end member 6, through which slots the newspaper at the end of the hopper 3 may be engaged by grapplers 8. Grapplers 8, which may desirably include teeth 9, may be mounted on a cross-member 10 which is free for longitudinal movement in grooves 13 of channel members 14. Cross member 10 may be actuated for longitudinal movement by vertical arm 11 which is operated by a cylinder 12. While any conventional unit might be employed as cylinder 12, one particular example that has proved advantageous is Bimba Manufacturing Company air cyclinder model No. 040-LS. Such cylinders may be actuated by conventional solenoid valves.

At the juncture of end wall 6' and bottom 18 of hopper 3 is a slot 41 through which a newspaper or the like may pass. Hingedly connected to the end of bottom wall 18 adjacent slot 41 is a flap 16 which may be constructed, for example, of rubber or metal. Flap 16 is adjustable so that slot 41 is of such a size that only one newspaper will pass therethrough. Flap 16 is moved back and forth by means such as an air cylinder 17, which is advantageously actuated by a solenoid valve. Cylinder 17, which may be similar in type to cylinder 12, may be conveniently mounted on a brace 20 beneath the bottom plate 18 of hopper 3.

Positioned beneath slot 41, and adapted to be in engagement with flap 16 when the flap is extended, are means for folding or rolling a newspaper to a size and form readily adaptable for ejection from the apparatus, such as roller 24 having an axial slot 25 therein. Slot 25 is adapted to receive a newspaper 4, and after a newspaper has been engaged in and wrapped around the roller 24, it is held to the roller by an idler roller 28 which is held in position against the newspaper by means such as spring 29 on member 30 and which is desirably included in order to force the newspaper to roll tight and, if wrapper is used, to secure as good a wrap as possible.

The roller 24 may conveniently be tapered toward one end thereof to facilitate removal of a paper therefrom. Also, it may be desirable to have two idler rollers 28, one on each side of the machine. When such an arrangement is used, apparatus may be inserted between the two idler rollers to effect tying or wrapping of the newspapers.

Conveniently mounted adjacent roller 24, may be a tying or wrapping mechanism 36 such as that illustrated in FIGURE 3. A ball 22 of string 21 may be mounted on a plate 23 above roller 24. Through a hole 26 in plate 23 the string is passed adjacent roller 24 so that newspaper 4 thereon may be securely tied. Tying machine 36 may be actuated by cylinder 37, such as those described above, which may be conveniently mounted on brace 38. Of course it is understood that any appropriate tying ma chine may be employed, and likewise any convenient tying agent, such as string or tape, may be employed.

On rainy days it is often desirable that the papers be wrapped in order to prevent their becoming wet. Thus,

it is often desirable to include means for wrapping the newspaper, and such means may conveniently be mounted adjacent roller 24, and are illustrated at 36'. A roll of plastic material such as Saran, a polyvinylidene chloride material marketed by Dow Chemical Company, has been found to be particularly advantageous when mounted at 36. Any conventional means may be included for separating the wrapping material into lengths appropriate for binding a single paper. It will be understood that such material will securely bind the newspaper and, if it is employed, it will not ordinarily be necessary to tie the newspaper.

Roller 24 may be actuated by means such as cylinder 47 through a reduction gear 39 (for example, a to 1 reduction gear). Means such as yoke 42, which is clearly illustrated in FIGURE 5, are adapted to sweep newspaper 4 off roller 24; such yoke may be actuated by cylinder 27.

Positioned beneath roller 24 is barrel 44 of gun 43, the barrel having an opening 34 therein adapted to receive newspaper 4. It is sometimes desired to include flexible flaps 35 on each side of opening 34 to guide newspaper 4 into said opening. Gun 43 may be any conventional ejector mechanism such as Model No. 7977 air shot gun of Aro Corporation, or Duo-Fast Model CN-135.

Each of the air cylinders is conveniently linked by an air line to a common air tank of, e.g., 100 psi. pressure. As is evident to those skilled in the art, the appropriate air regulators may be placed in such lines.

In operation, it is readily seen that a stack of newspapers off the press may conveniently be loaded into the hopper 3, and the hopper loaded on a vehicle as shown in FIGURE 1.

At the appropriate point, a switch which is conveniently located in the cab of the vehicle and which may be operated by a suitable button, is engaged, this switch activating both the solenoid valve which control-s the gun 43 and also the cylinder 27. As this switch is activated, it is readily apparent that the gun 43 fires the newspaper which is in the barrel 44, and the yoke 42 sweeps the next newspaper ofi" roller 24 into barrel 44. As the yoke 42 approaches the end of roller 24, it strikes a microswitch which is located at the end of roller 24, this microswitch being connected to the solenoid valve operating the cylinder 12. Grapplers 8, engaging the newspaper in the front end of hopper 3, move this newspaper downward through the slot 41 toward slotted roller 24. Another microswitch which may conveniently be located near the bottom of one of the channel members 14, is connected to activate the cylinders 17 and 47 through their respective solenoid valves. Thus, as the newspaper is moved through the slot 41 by grapplers 8, it is met by flap 16 which guides it into slot 25 of roller 24. Then, as the newspaper enters the slot 25, the roller 24 is turned through reduction gear 39 and the newspaper is securely rolled thereon.

Another microswitch may be positioned so that it will be struck by the arm of reduction gear 39, this microswitch activating the cylinder 37 which operates the tying machine or wrapper dispenser 36. And yet another microswitch, at the end of the stroke of this arm, is connected to cylinder 47 causing this cylinder to return to its original position. The fire button is then engaged again and the sequence is repeated.

For example, a microswitch in the barrel 44 might indicate--through, for instance, a red Warning light in the cab of vehicle 1-when the barrel is empty.

It is contemplated that all microswitches may be wired through a common energy source, which may conveniently be the battery of the vehicle.

It is also contemplated as another feature of this invention that an automatic device may be employed in order to assure that newspapers are thrown at the homes of subscribers, and at those homes only. For instance, an electric eye type of device may be installed on the machine, and reflector devices at the homes of subscribers. The scanning device would automatically actuate the switch to throw a newspaper at the home of a subscriber as soon as it had been energized by the reflector at that home. Of course, any one of many types of scanning devices might be useful for such a purpose.

While the invention has been described in terms of one particularly useful embodiment, it will be evident to one skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made without departing from the scope of this invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for automatically delivery newspapers to the homes of subscribers comprising in combination: a hopper for containing a plurality of newspapers to be delivered, said hopper having a slot in one end thereof for removal of the newspapers one at a time, and means for moving the newspapers toward said slot; means for removing said newspapers one at a time through said slot; a roller for receiving a newspaper through said slot; means for rotating said roller to wrap said newspaper thereon; means for removing said newspapers from said roller and into ejecting means; and means for ejecting said newspapers from said ejecting means to thereby deliver the newspaper to the desired location.

2. Apparatus for automatically delivering newspapers at the homes of subscribers comprising in combination: a portable hopper for containing a plurality of newspapers to be delivered, said hopper having a slot in one end thereof for exit of the newspapers one at a time through said slot, and means for moving the newspapers toward said slot; means for removing said newspaper one at a time through said slot; a roller for receiving a newspaper through said slot in said hopper; means for rotating said roller to wrap said newspaper thereon; means adjacent said roller for securely tying a newspaper; means for removing said newspapers from said roller and into ejecting means; and, means for ejecting said newspapers from said ejecting means to thereby deliver the newspaper to the desired location.

3. Apparatus for automatically delivering newspapers at the homes of subscribers comprising in combination: a hopper for containing the newspapers to be delivered and including in one end thereof a slot through which the newspapers may be dispensed; means for moving the newspapers in said hopper to said slot; roller means positioned adjacent said slot; means for removing said newspapers one at a time through said slot onto said roller; means for rotating said roller to wrap said newspapers thereon; means for removing said newspapers from said roller and into ejecting means; and means for ejecting said newspapers from said ejecting means to thereby deliver the newspapers to the desired location.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said means for moving the newspapers in said hopper is a pnetunatic screw conveyor.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said roller means comprises a generally solid cylindrical roller having a longitudinal slot therein whereby a newspaper may be positioned in said slot of said roller and thence wrapped around the periphery of said roller.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 whereas said ejecting means comprises a gun portion and a barrel portion in the form of a generally hollow cylinder.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for removing said newspapers from said roller comprises a yoke which is actuated by an air cylinder.

8. Apparatus for automatically delivering newspapers at the homes of subscribers comprising in combination: a portable hopper for containing the newspapers to .be delivered and including in one end thereof a slot through which the newspapers may be dispensed; means for moving the newspapers in said hopper toward said slot; roller means positioned adjacent said slot; means for removing said newspapers one at a time through said slot onto said roller; means for rotating said roller to wrap said newspapers thereon; means for securely tying said newspapers while on said roller; means for removing said newspapers from said roller and into ejecting means; and means for ejecting said newspapers from said ejectmg means to thereby deliver the newspapers to the desired location.

9. Apparatus for delivering newspapers at preselected points comprising: means for holding a plurality of newspapers and dispensing the newspapers one by one; means operably connected with said dispensing means for folding the newspapers in a form readily adapted for delivery; and means operably connected with said folding means for delivering the newspapers at preselected points, wherein said folding means comprises a longitudinal roller having an axial slot through a portion thereof, said slot being adapted to receive the newspaper from said dispensing means.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein: said ejecting means comprises a gun having a barrel portion adapted to receive a folded newspaper from said roller.

11. Apparatus for delivering newspapers at preselected points comprising in combination: a portable hopper for holding a plurality of newspapers, said hopper including a slot in one end thereof through which a newspaper may be removed from said hopper, a flap adjacent said slot, said flap being adapted for forward movement to support a newspaper on its removal from said hopper, and for backward movement thereafter, and means urging said newspapers toward said slot; a roller located adjacent said flap and comprising a longitudinal roller having an axial slot through a portion thereof;

means for rotating said roller to wrap a newspaper thereon; a yoke for removing the newspaper from said roller; and a gun for receiving said newspaper from said roller and throwing it at a preselected point.

12. Apparatus for delivering newspapers at preselected points comprising in combination: a portable hopper for holding a plurality of newspapers, said hopper including a sblot in one end thereof through which a newspaper may be removed from said hopper, a flap adjacent said slot, said flap being adapted for forward movement to support a newspaper on its removal from said hopper, and for backward movement theerafter, and means urging said newspapers toward said slot; a roller located adjacent said flap and comprising a longitudinal roller having an axial slot through a portion thereof; means for rotating said roller to wrap a newspaper thereon; a tying machine operably connected with said roller for securely tying the newspaper thereon; a yoke for removing the newspaper from said roller; and a gun for receiving said newspaper from said roller and throwing it at a preselected point.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,113,410 12/1963 Pottle 53l 19 3,128,583 4/1964 Murray 53-119 3,145,390 8/1964 Puckett 53-120 X TRAVIS S. McGEHEE, Primary Examiner. 

